


Puppies!

by inquisitorsmabari



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Dogs, F/M, First Meetings, Fluff, Modern AU, Modern Thedas, One Shot, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 13:24:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16954890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inquisitorsmabari/pseuds/inquisitorsmabari
Summary: “Get a puppy!” They had all told her, and so Amelie caved. But the puppy is a little terror, perhaps training classes would help? Perhaps she could learn a thing or two from the handsome blonde with the obedient mabari?





	Puppies!

“Get a puppy!” They had all told her, her friends and family mostly, throwing articles and adverts her way until, finally, she caved. “It will really help, you’ll feel a lot less lonely.”

And it had, somewhat. The house was certainly a lot less empty now that a tiny puppy with big eyes and floppy ears bounced along the stone tile at every opportunity, chasing balls of dust and barking at its own shadow. But, Maker, she was already at her wits end.

Everything in her house, her sofa, her blankets, her socks, had all been chewed to death. How many times had she walked into her living room, seeking peace and quiet after a long day at work, to find that another sock had fallen victim to the sharp fangs of the cute, fluffy menace that had come into her home? Her sock bill, which she had never bothered to calculate before, was now sky high.

And so here she was, standing in the cold evening air in a field surrounded by other desperate, haggard looking dog owners, with puppies at their feet who wagged their tails and bit at their shoelaces with the eager energy that only puppies held. Puppy class: an idea that some blessed individual had engineered when they too, presumably, found themselves falling victim to the puppy equivalent of a tempest. But whoever it was, she had a lot to thank them for, presuming it actually worked.

“You’ve got a lively little pup there,” The man beside her leaned over to greet her, his attention drawn to the puppy at her feet which was currently trying to chew on his own lead. “What’s their name?”

“Charlie,” She told him as she looked up into his golden eyes which were so fixated on the pup at her feet that she thought they would reach her gaze. That was the thing about owning a dog, everyone wanted to say hello, just normally not to you. “And lively is a word you could use, yes.” She looked around him, where a large set dog sat perfectly still as it looked at its owner with a longing gaze. “Yours seems a lot more calm, but are you sure that’s a puppy?”

“Well, not technically,” The man told her, his lips stretching into a smile that she then realised was marred by a jagged scar which twisted it into an unusual, crooked shape. It wasn't an unpleasant shape, far from it, but her gaze was inexplicably drawn to it. “But he was a rescue, so he’s having his classes a little late.”

He stood up, drawing his attention away from her puppy and looking at her properly for the first time since his greeting, staring down into her face with warm, welcoming eyes. “I’m sorry, I was so interested in your puppy I forgot to introduce myself,” He smiled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck as his gaze fluttered away from hers. “My name is Cullen.”

“Amelie,” She smiled at him, before she became distracted by a pull on the lead she was holding as Charlie decided to roll fervently on the grass at their feet. “I’d love to talk more but he seems intent on not letting that happen!”

“The class will be starting soon anyway,” He told her, looking towards the woman who stood at the front of the class with her hands on her hips and a very proud looking dog with a shaggy coat sat at her feet. “But, there’s always after?” He asked her, before he looked back at her with nervous eyes as more words began to tumble out of his mouth. “You know, just for a chat, if you’re not too busy.”

“That would be nice,” She said, causing him to break out in a nervous smile. “And you could show me some pointers, tell me how you got your dog to be so well behaved.”

“I could try,” He laughed, before the cacophony of noise around them ground to a halt, and the woman leading the class looked poised to begin her lecture. He turned back to her ever so slightly, throwing her a quick smile as he spoke at her with a whisper. “We’ll talk later, then?”

“Yes,” She replied, turning her attention to the class and trying desperately to ignore the pulling at her feet that told her that Charlie was trying to eat her shoes. “It was nice to meet you.”

And, indeed it was. Everyone had told her how great having a puppy would be, but no one had mentioned the potential benefit of meeting curious strangers at a training class. She would have to make a mental note to come to the same class next week, even if the woman in charge was a little bit scary. And, at least, the class had been so tiring for her puppy, that little Charlie fell asleep on her lap almost as soon as they got home.

Having a puppy wasn't so bad, after all.


End file.
